So so Thanksgiving

We ate at Moshulu for Thanksgiving my wife and me because she did not want to entertain this year. I had misgivings because of a paucity of information about this Philadelphia institution and mixed reviews on Yelp. Gayot rates it highly.

The service was good, our waiter extremely gracious. The environment was very comfortable. We had a view of the river though due to lighting inside the restaurant and lack of lighting outside, one can't enjoy this too much.

But the food was really mediocre. Our appetizer, salt and pepper shrimp, tasted okay I guess, but its presentation was crude enough that I would notice and it was nothing special.

I had the Thanksgiving special and the miniscule portion of turkey it contained was laughable and surprising, given how cheap turkey is. The turkey itself was nothing special, though I suppose I might have missed its subtleties simply because there was not enough, just two small pieces.

Beer selection was poor.

Dessert, a butterscotch pudding ("budino") was fine but again, nothing special. My wife tried to order a Dark and Stormy, which seems to me to be an appropriate drink in a nautically themed restaurant and the bartender did not know what it was and had none of its ingredients. At least he warned her and she hesitated and got a special cocktail with dinner that she enjoyed.

On the plus side, the portions were so small neither of us left the resto with that "stuffed" feeling that can be uncomfortable on Thanksgiving. And nothing made me sick, another problem I have had at many restos.

It's a shame that you have been disappointed -yet again- by a Philadelphia restaurant experience, but considering it's Moshulu, it's not surprising. Over the 30 years or so I'm aware it's been open (and closed) Moshulu has had many changes in ownership and many more chefs. The ambiance was always the draw with the food fair to middling. People who are "into food" in the Philly area tend to see the place for what it's most always been.